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Centennial Sermons
LEXII^GTO:^'
CEI^TE\t(!AL SERMONS
DELIVERED IN THE
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH,
LEXINGTON, MASS.,
April 11th, 18th, and 25th, 1875,
BY THE PASTOE,
Rev. HENRY Vs^-ESTCOTT.
BOSTON :
Printed by Frank Wood, 352 Washington St.
1875.
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A SERMON
DELIVERED APRIL 11, 1875
As the day which marks the close of a century since
the beginning of the American Revolution approaches,
no small amount of interest centres in the village of
Lexington, which witnessed the opening scene of that
war. Years ago, when, as school children, in some
other town or State, many of us read the account of
• the "Battle of Lexington," it was with the resolution
that, at some future day, our feet should stand upon the
ground made sacred by the first blood shed in defence
of American liberty. And now, when the day that
many will choose on which to keep such resolutions is
so near, let us glance hastily at the Old Lexington of
pre-revolutionary times, and consider some of the
causes which have made the name of our village
familiar to every citizen of this country.
The feeling of interest which turns the thoughts of
so many persons hither at the present time is not on
account of any great battle, or of any superiority of
the men who stood upon Lexington Green, waiting the
approach of British soldiers. The "battle" was only
a skirmish; and, had Gen. Gage sent his troops in any
other direction, they would have found as brave men
in every town as they found here. But Lexington
Green happened to be the place where the British troops
first met Americans in arms, drawn up for the express
purpose of forcibly resisting, if possible, their move-
ment of hostility. American blood had been shed as
early as 1770, in Boston; and British blood had been
shed in 1772, at the burning of the schooner Gaspee,
in Narragansett Bay ; and in other places blood had
been shed previous to April 19, 1775. But in all these
cases, the shedding of blood was occasioned by acts of
annoyance on the part of the British, rather than by
any act -of direct hostility. Here, however, the
British troops were on their wa}' to strike a blow at
the pr(3paration which this colony was making for the
conflict that was thought to be unavoidable. And the
company on Lexington Green was, as Frothingham, in
his " Siege of Boston," says, ""a part of 'the constitu-
tional army,' which was authorized to make a regular
and forcible resistance to any open hostility by the
British troops ; and it was for this purpose that this
gallant and devoted band on this memorable morning
appeared on the field. Whether it ought to maintain
its ground, or whether it ought to retreat, would depend
upon the bearing and numbers of the regulars." Here
the troops sent over to deprive these colonics of their
liberties first came in conflict with a part of that army
which had been raised to sustain those liberties. On
account of the disproportion in numbers, the further
march of the British was not prevented ; but enough
was done to awaken the spirit of resistance in the
neighboring towns, and, indeed, in all the colonies.
This is what gives, to-day, an interest in the name of
Lexington.
The territory now included in the town of Lexington,
previous to the year lU-S, formed a part of Cambridge,
and was generally known as " Cambridge Farms.'' As
it lay at some distance from tlio settlement of Cam-
bridge, the land was taken up and built upon very
slowly. For a long time, there was no central place of
settlement. Here and there, as some adventurer found
a tract of land to his liking, a house was built, and a
home begun. In 1682, when the number of families
had reached about thirty, the inconvenience of going
from jfive to ten miles to the place of worship was felt
to be so great that the people of this district petitioned
the General Court to be set off' as a distinct parish. On
account of the opposition of the people of Cambridge,
this was not effected until the year 1691, when the
place was called North Cambridge. Immediately, the
inhabitants made arrangements for building a meeting-
house and securing a preacher. The meeting-house
was built in 1692, and, for a time. Rev, Benjamin Esta-
brook was engaged from year to year to preach. In
1696, after providing him with a house, and arranging
for a salary of forty-five pounds, they ventured to give
him a call, which he accepted, being ordained in October
of that year. Mr. Estabrook graduated at Harvard Col-
lege in the year 1690, and was a young man of much
promise, but he lived less than a year after his ordina-
tion.
The next minister was Rev. John Hancock, a graduate
of Harvard College, who was settled in 1698. He was
the grandfiither of John Hancock, of Revolutionary
fame ; and he remained pastor of the church for fifty-
five years.
Rev. Ebenezer Hancock, son of Rev. John Hancock,
was settled as colleague with his father in 1*134, and
died in 1740.
The inhabitants of this part of Cambridge in the early-
part of tiie eighteenth century had increased to such an
extent, that they petitioned the General Court to be in-
corporated as a town, which petition was granted in
the year 1713, the town taking the name of Lexington.
As more than a score of cities, counties and towns in
the United States have since received this name, it is a
matter of interest to know where the name came from.
The name, undoubtedly, came from Lord Lexington, of
England, who was a noted man at the time of the incor-
poration of the town ; and was also a relation of Joseph
Dudley, who was then Governor of the Province.
During the first half century which succeeded the
incorporation of Lexington, the energies of the people
were mainly devoted to the improvement of the town.
Schoolhouses were built, schools were established, the
support of the ministry was provided for, roads were
opened, and many other things were attended to, which
were required by a well-regulated and prosperous com-
munity. Some of the duties to which they attended
seem strange to us, although they were regarded as im-
portant at that time. They appointed a committee to
seat the families in the meeting-house according to age,
dignity and wealth, — a duty which must have been very
difficult to perform satisfactorily to all concerned. Tliey
appointed tythingmon to look after the children during
and between the religious services on Sunday, — a task
which could not have been a verj' easy one. Persons
liable to become a public cliarge they warned out of
town. In 1739, the town voted that representatives to
the Great and General Court should serve for six shil-
lings a day ; and in 1151 , it was voted that all money
received by the representatives over three shillings a
day, should be paid into the town treasury.
Kev. Mr. Hancock died in the 3'ear 1752, and his
funeral was something of public interest, so that the
town made an appropriation to meet the expenses, and
appointed a committee to take charge of the services.
In 1761, the bell which gave the alarm on the morning
of Api'il 19, 1775, was presented to the town by Isaac
Stone.
Although the citizens were devoted to the interests
of the town, they were not backward in the support of
the wars with the French and Indians. Whether the
war was in the West Indies, or before Quebec or
Louisburg, there were found representatives from this
town. It was in such service as this, that the men of
Lexington, and those of many other towns, learned the
art of war, which they practised at a later period. It
was by fighting by the side of British troops that they
gained the courage to fight when opposed to them.
In 1755, Rev. Jonas Clark was ordained as the min-
ister of the Lexington Church. Mr. Clark was a
graduate of Harvard College, and he married a grand-
daughter of his predecessor. Rev. John Hancock. In
the controversy between Great Britain and the Ameri-
can Colonies, which soon came to be the most important
subject of thought, Mr. Clark took the greatest interest.
As the controversy increased, Mr. Clark took a very
active part in the proceedings of the town relating to
that question. Most of the resolutions adopted by the
citizens of the town expressing their views on the sub-
joct of the controversy were prepared by him. Edward
Everett said of those documents, "They have few equals,
and no superiors, among- the productions of that class."
Weiss, in his life of Theodore Parker, says of Mr. Clark:
" He was more dangerous than all the militar}^ stores
at Concord or in the Colony, and had so infected the
whole district with his calm and deep indig-nation. x'aat,
when the regulars came marching up the old turnpike
in the gray dawn of the 19th of April, after powder and
flour, they found all the farmers converted to a doctrine
of liberty which armed and provisioned a young nation
for seven years of war."
I do not propose to discuss the causes of the Ameri-
can Revolution, but only to state the more immediate
measures on the part of Great Britain and the Colonies
which led to the conflict. In 1*1*14, the British Parlia-
ment enacted laws by which certain officers, hitherto
chosen by the people, or representatives of the people,
in Massachusetts, were to be chosen by the king and
by the governor ; and also forbidding all town meet-
ings, except tlie annual ones, and all other public meet-
ings, to be held, unless with the consent of the gover-
nor. This was virtually reducing the inhabitants of
the Colony to the condition of slaves. And it was the
attempt to enforce such laws, that led, by a direct path,
to an open conflict between the troops of Great Britain
and the Colonists. A meeting of delegates from the
Committees of Correspondence was held in Boston,
August 26 and 21, 1714. These delegates declared
that the inhabitants of the Colony "were entitled to
life, liberty, and the means of sustenance, by the grace
of Heaven and without the king's leave ;" and resolved
that the officers who had been chosen according to the
late act of Parliament ought to be resisted, that the
military art ought attentively to be practised b}'^ the
people, and that a " Provincial Congress is necessary
for concerting and executing an eflectual plan for coun-
teracting the systems of despotism, and that each
county will act wisely by choosing members as soon
as may be for said congress, and by resolutely execut-
ing its measures when recommended." This was the
first suggestion of a Provincial Congress ; and the coun-
ties immediately began to act upon it by holding conven-
tions, which advised the towns to choose delegates to
such a body, and also passed determined and spirited
resolutions.
September 1st, ITH, Gen. Gage summoned the
General Court to meet at Salem on October 5th. On
the 28th of September, he issued a proclamation ex-
cusing and discharging all who had been chosen repre-
sentatives, and declaring his intention not to meet them.
The reasons for this act were, "the many tumults and
disorders which had taken place, the extraordinary
resolves which had been passed in many of the coun-
ties, the instructions given by the town of Boston, and
some other towns, to their representatives, and the dis-
ordered and unhappy state of the province." As a
specimen of the spirit of those resolves which had in-
timidated the Governor, the Middlesex County Con-
vention said : "If, in support of our rights, we are
called upon to encounter death, we are yet undaunted,
sensible that he can never die too soon, who lays down
his life in support of the laws and liberties of his coun-
try." As a specimen of the instructions given by the
10
towns to their repvesentatives, Lexington instructed
her representative, Jonas Stone, to " use liis utmost in-
fluence that nothing- be transacted as a court under the
new council, or in conformity to any of the late acts of
Parliament."
Notwithstanding the proclamation of Gen. Gage,
nearly a hundred of the representatives met at Salem,
October 5, and waited two days for the appearance of the
Governor, who did not come. They therefore resolved
themselves into a Provincial Congress, to be joined by
such others as had been or should be chosen. The
object of that Congress, as stated at the time, was : to
" take into consideration the dangerous and alarming
situation of public affairs in this province, and to con-
sult and determine on such measures as they shall judge
will tend to promote the true interest of his majesty,
and the peace, welfare, and prosperity of the province."
The organization of this Provincial Congress was
certainly the boldest step which had yet been taken.
By such an organization, the inhabitants of this colony
were resisting British authority, and were falling
back upon the natural rights of man, just as truly as
they were when they took up arms to resist British
troops. The men who dared to sit in that Congress
showed themselves as true heroes as did the men who
shcjuldered their muskets and hastened to Lexington
and Concord on tlie morning of the nineteenth of the
following April. It is not strange, therefore, that
Joseph Warren wrote to a friend about the members of
that body : " You would have thought j^ourself in an
assembly of Spartans, or ancient Romans, had you been
11
a witness to the ardor which inspired those who spoke
xipon the important business they were transacting."
The proceedings of this Congress are of the utmost
importance to every one who would understand the
cause of the open acts of hostility which took place in
the following spring. It was the work of this Congress
and of the Committee of Safety which it appointed, that
provoked Gen. Gage to send his troops on the expedi-
tion to Lexington and Concord ; and it was the work
of this Congress and Committee that the inhabitants of
this part of the province were prepared to meet those
troops.
The Provincial Congress, aftc organizing at Salem,
Oct. *7, adjourned to meet at Concord, Oct. 11. The
Congress met at Concord, according to adjournment,
and held there a session of four days. It adjourned
Friday, Oct. 14, to meet at Cambridge on the following
Monday, at which place all the remaining sessions of
this first Provincial Congress were held. The second
Provincial Congress also held its first session in Cam-
bridge ; but on March 22, 1115, it met at Concord,
where it continued in session till April 15. At the
four days' session of the first Provincial Congress held
at Concord, two important measures were adopted: an
address to Governor Gage, which contained an account
of the distresses, oppressions, and grievances to which
the people were subjected, and a request that the Gov-
ernor would desist from any further warlike prepara-
tions. The other important measure was the advising
of the constables, collectors, and sheriffs not to pay
any moneys in their hands to the treasurer of the prov-
12
ince, but to retain the same until farther advice from the
Provincial Cong-ress.
Among the important measures adopted by the first
and second Cong-ress while in session at Cambridge
were the following : to purchase 20 field pieces, 4 mor-
tars, 20 tons grape and round shot, 10 tons bomb shells,
5 tons lead balls, 1000 barrels of powder, 5000 arms
and bayonets, and 75,000 flints; the appointment of a
Committee of Safety, whose duties were to observe
every attempt to invade or annoy the province, and, if
necessary, to call out the militia; the people were urged
to complete the organization of the military companies,
to have them perfected in military discipline, and a part
of them ready to march at the shortest notice.
"We think," said the Provincial Congress, "that
particular care should be taken by the towns and dis-
tricts in this colony, that each of the minute-men, not
already provided therewith, should be immediately
equipped with an eflFective fire-arm, bayonet, pouch,
knapsack, thirty rounds of cartridges and balls, and that
they be disciplined three times a week, and oftener as
opportunity may offer." Besides this, the ministers of
the colony were asked by Congress to advise their con-
gregations to adhere strictly to the resolutions of the
Continental (Congress. The church at Cambridge in
which the Provincial Congress held its sessions when
these and many other important measures which led to
the beginning of open hostilities were adopted, no
longer stands. Were it standing, there would be no
other buikling in this country to which pilgrimages
would more readily be made by citizens of the United
States.
13
When we remember that the measures and resolutions
which were adopted by the Provincial Congress, were sup.
plemented by the earnest action of the Committees of Safe-
ty and Supplies in procuring field-pieces, muskets, balls,
cartridges, powder, bayonets, tents, provisions, and med-
icines— every thing that an army in actual service could
possibly require — and concealing them at Concord and
Worcester, we can understand something of the -feelings
with which our forefathers passed tlirough those months
during which the Provincial Congress was in session.
Everywhere in the province was seen a preparation for
war. But probably nowhere was there more interest
taken in that preparation than in the towns which were
in the neighborhood of Cambridge, where the Provin-
cial Congress was in session, and Boston, where the Brit-
ish troops were quartered. In the records of every town
are found the evidences of this interest. If we look in the
records of this town, we find the citizens during those
months holding frequent town meetings, and voting to
provide flints, and bayonets, and drums, and all other
things necessary for a forcible resistance of British
troops. As a year previous to this time, they had re-
solved that " we trust in God, that should the state of
our affairs require it, we shall be ready to sacrifice
our estates and everything dear in life, yea, and life
itself, in support of the common cause," so at the time
we are considering, they were making active prepara-
tions to fulfil their promise to sustain the common cause,
which they then saw clearly must be done, with the
sacrifice of their lives. We are so accustomed to
dwell upon the events of the nineteenth of April, 1115,
that we fail to realize the anxiety in which the few
14
months previous to that time were passed by the in-
habitants of this town. With what eagerness must
they have looked for each measure adopted by the
Provincial Congress, and with what anxiety must they
have heard of every movement of the troops at Boston.
As the winter wore away with the increasing certainty
of the approaching conflict, and as the spring opened
with the Provincial Congress meeting in March, at
Concord, to perfect the work of preparation which it
had previously laid out ; as the days passed by,
with the conflict apparently so near that men were
appointed to watch closely every movement of the
British, there must have been many anxious hearts
within this town. Nearly every family had one or
more of its members enrolled in the military company
of the town ; and for many nights husbands, and wives,
and children, and fathers, and mothers, must have fallen
asleep, expecting, before morning, to hear the alarm
rung out from the belfry on the Green. At last, the
alarm was heard. About one o'clock, on the morning
of tlie loth (jf April, IITS, the inhabitants of Lexing-
ton who dwelt along the road leading to Boston heard
the clattering of a horse's hoofs. It was the horse of
Paul Revere, who was hastening with a message from
Joscpli Warren, to Samuel Adams and John Hancock,
who were passing the night with Rev. Jonas Clark,
that a large body of the King's troops were embarked
in boats from Boston, and that it was suspected they
were ordered to destroy the stores at Concord. Soon
the bell sounded the alarm, and by two o'clock, nearly
all the members of Capt. Parker's company answered
to their names, as the roll was called upon the Green
15
If it be asked, For what did these men meet upon the
Green? the answer is given by Rev. Mr. Clark, in
his narrative of the events of that day. It was " not
with any design of commencing hostilities upon the
King's troops, but to consult what might be done for
our own and the people's safety : And also to be ready
for whatever service Providence might call us out to
upon this alarming occasion, in case overt acts of
violence or open hostilities should be committed."
And he further says: "From a most intimate acquaint
ance with the sentiments of the inhabitants of this
town then collected in arms, I think I may boldly
assert that it was then knoion determination not to com-
mence hostilities upon the king's troops ; though they
were equally determined to stand by tlieir rights to the
last." Capt. Parker's company remained upon the
Green about an hour, when, hearing nothing of the
regulars, the company was dismissed, with orders to
appear immediately at the beat of the drum. Some of
the members, whose homes were near, retired thither,
while the greater part went into Buckman's tavern^
which stood on the opposite side of the road,
I wish we had the tales of that wayside inn ; that we
knew of what those men talked while they awaited the
roll of the drum which should call them again into line.
They were subjects of George III., yet they were sup-
plied with powder and balls, and had their muskets
loaded, in expectation of the coming of the king's
troops. Although all the inhabitants of the colony had
been looking forward to this, their position — the king's
subjects in arms against the king's troops — was a
strange one, and it must have seemed so to them.
16
Doubtless they discussed the last measures of the Pro-
vincial Cong-rcss, of the Committee of Safety, of the
Committee of Supplies, the latest news about the Brit-
ish in Boston, the prospect of a war and its probable
results, and the object of the militar}'- expedition which
they had been called out to watch, and^ if possible,
oppose. No doubt there were as patriotic sentiments
uttered in that wayside inn on that night as had been
heard in the churches at Cambridge and Concord from
members of the Provincial Congress. Doubtless they
strengthened each other's hearts with assertions of their
readiness to meet the troops of the king, and with
determined resolutions that George III., Lord North,
and the Parliament should be taught a lesson long to be
remembered. If the Avails of that building could only
speak and tell what occurred during that hour when
those " village Hampdens " sat and talked in the light
of the cheerful fire, the story would be one of the most
interesting relics to be shown on the coming anni-
versary.
But their conversation and discussions were suddenly
interrupted by the roll of the drum and the alarm gun.
Grasping their muskets, and taking one look at them
to see if they were ready for resistance, should it be
necessary, they hastened from the house, and to the
Green. There, while they were forming in line, — be-
fore the line was completely formed, — the British
troops made their appearance between the meeting-
house and the tavern. Captain Parker ordered every
man to stand his ground, but not to fire uidess fired
upon. Pitcairn, the commanding ofliccr of the British,
shouted to the Minute-men, " Lay down your arms and
17
disperse, you rebels!" and then immediately ordered
his troops to " Fire ! " at the same time firing his own
pistol. The British fired, first over the heads of the
Minute-men ; but at the second command, they fired and
killed and wounded a number of the Americans. See-
ing his men outnumbered, Parker ordered them to dis-
perse. But before obeying that order, some of the
company returned the fire, and others, while dispers-
ing, did the same. The British continued pursuing
and firing, until all who were alive had escaped. Then
the troops gave three huzzas, and proceeded towards
Concord, leaving eight Americans killed, and nine
wounded, and having had two or three of their men
wounded. Such is an account of the fight or skirmish
at Lexington, on the morning of April 19, 17t5, as ac-
cepted by all historians.
The news of what had been done reached Concord
before the British did. The neighboring towns also
had been alarmed, and men from Acton and Lin-
coln stood with those of Concord to offer further resist-
ance. While a part of the British troops were engaged
in searching for and destroying stores, a detachment
left to guard the North bridge fired upon the Ameri-
cans, who outnumbered the British, three to one. They
returned the fire, killing one and wounding a number
of the regulars. The British that were at North
bridge retreated towards the centre of the town, and
joined the main body of their troops ; and soon the
whole body began that retreat which proved so disas-
ti'ous to them, all the way from Concord, through Lex-
ington and Arlington, to Charlestown.
In regard to what took place on Lexington Green in
18
the morning', attempts have been made within the past
fifty years to raise a question, whether or no the min-
ute-men retui-ned the fire of the British troops. But
there never was any such question to be raised. There
is no more doubt that the minute-men on Lexington
Green returned the fire of the Britisli, than there is
that the minute men were on the Green. The testimony
which conflicts with this statement was not such, either
in amount or character, as caused the shadow of a doubt
in the minds of the members of the Provincial Con-
gress that the fire of the British was returned. The
narrative of the events of April 19, ordered by the
Provincial Congress to be published in the following
month, implies that the fire was returned by the
Americans, in the statement, that the British " first
began the hostile scene, by firing on this small party,
by which they killed eight men on the spot, and
wounded several others, before any guns were fired
upon the troops by our men." In the proclamation of the
Provincial Congress of June 16, 17T5, it is expressly
stated that the fire of the British was returned. " The
fire was returned by some of the survivors," are the
words employed. Gordon, who visited Lexington and
Concord a few days after the battle, ascertained, both
from the Americans and from British prisoners, that
the minute-men did return the fire. Rev. Jonas
Clark, of Lexington, in his naiTative of the events of
the day, says : " Very few of our people fired at all ; and
even they did not fire till, after being fired upon by the
troops, they were wounded themselves, or saw others
killed or wounded by them, and looked upon it next to
impossible for them to escape." This is what the
19
earliest authorities say ; and it has been accepted by all
historians from that time to this ; the last historian,
Higginson, whose book was published only a few weeks
ago, saying distinctly: " The Americans fired in return."
And I am not aware that there was ever any pretence
of a doubt about this, till half a century had passed
away. There is no fact concerning the whole American
Revolution which has much better authentication than
the fact that on Lexington Green began that resistance
to British troops which was continued at Concord,
which was continued all the way from Concord to
Charlestown, which was continued at Bunker Hill,
which was continued till 1783, when the British troops
were driven from Amei'ican soil, and the liberties of
the American colonies were secured.
It is true that the firing by the minute-men on Lexing-
ton Green was not done in obedience to any command
of Capt. Parker. Individual soldiers fired upon their
own responsibility. But I am not aware that that circum-
stance detracts from the significance or importance of
the firing. There was very little firing by the Americans
on that day that was done in obedience to the com-
mands of officers. It was done by individuals behind trees,
fences and walls. If the firing of the Americans on
Lexington Green was not of much importance, then
there was very little firing of importance done on that
day, and the approaching celebration of the centennial
anniversary of that day can be scai'cely anything more
than a farce.
It may be asked, What was gained by the resistance
made on Lexington Green ? A few men died a glorious
death, but the expedition of the British was detained
20
only about half an hour. What advantage was gained
by the Colonies from the death of the men whose dust
reposes under yonder monument ? Some defeats effect
more than some victories. The battle of Bunker Hill was
not a victory for the Americans ; yet no one will deny
that it exerted a great influence in favor of the Ameri-
cans. It must be remembered that the organization of
the Minute-men throughout this Colony was for the pur-
pose of resisting any open acts of hostility on the part of
the British. While the Colonists were determined not to
be the aggressors, they were equally determined to op-
pose every open act of British hostility. Word came
to Lexington that the British troops had left Boston
that evening, evidently with hostile intentions. Samuel
Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, and Jonas Clark-
were right when they decided that it was the duty of
the Minute-men of Lexingtou to be preoared for any
service that might be required. It was no uncertain
sound that came from that belfry on the Green. It said
plainly that, if the British meant war, it might begin
here.
On the monument at Thevmopylfe, which marked
the spot where a few Greeks allowed themselves to be
sacrificed by the overwhelming hosts of the Persian in-
vader, the poet wrote the words : —
" Strangor, the tidings to the Spartan tell,
That here, obeying their eommands, we fell."
It was the same message that went forth on that
morning of April 19, 1775, from this field of blood, to
the inhabitants of this Colony. Obeying the commands
of the people of this Colony, as expressed by their Con-
21
gress, those meu fell on Lexington Green. And had
there been no further resistance on that day, their blood
would have been enough to summon the people of this
and all the other Colonies to arms, and to drive those
who were worse than invaders from the land Truly
said Jonas Clark, "The innocent blood of our brethren
was the cement of the Union, and seal of the freedom
of these American States ! All America heard the
alarm, deeply felt the wound, and bravely rose to re-
venge their brethren's blood, and join the common
cause."
-It should not be our endeavor, at this time, to exalt
our town on account of what was done here a century
ago. They of that time said, " Not unto us, 0 Lord,
but unto thee bo the glory ; " and in this let us follow
their example. Let us be content with the position
which history accords to the heroes of that morning,
and to the soil on which they fell. Bancroft says of
the men who fell at that time, " These are the village
heroes, who were more than of noble blood, proving by
their spirit that they were of a race divine. They gave
their lives in testimony to the rights of mankind, be-
queathing to their country an assur&,nce of success in
the mighty struggle which they began. Their names
are held in grateful remembrance, and the expanding
millions of their countrymen renew and multiply their
praise from generation to generation." Of these men
Everett said : " To the end of time, the soil whereon
ye fell is holy ; and shall be trod with revei-ence, while
America has a name among the nations." And of the
citizens of Lexington he said, " On their soil, and on
that day, commenced the dread appeal to arms, long
22
anticipated, though loyally deprecated by the friends
of American liberty. On that day, and on their soil,
commenced the struggle in which so much hardship
was endured, and so much precious blood was shed,
and which, by the blessing of Providence, was con-
ducted by the Heaven-appointed chieftain to its auspi-
cious result." But whatever may be said of those men,
or of the ground on which they fell, let us remember
that it was not for the glory of this town that they
died. As we consider the spirit by which they were
inspired, the names of men and towns sink out of sight
in the noble cause in which they were engaged. Let
us not look back to that day saying, " What a day for
the glory of Lexington ! " but " What a glorious day
for America! "
23
A SERMON DELIVERED APRIL 18th, 18t5.
PSALM xxxm. 12.
"blessed is the nation whose god is the lord."
Before the Pilgrims and the Puritans set their feet
upon the shores of New England, they expressed their
purpose in coming hither, in a way which assures us
that they intended to found a nation whose God
should be the Lord. In the cabin of the " Mayflower,"
the Pilgrims signed a compact, a part of which is :
" We, whose names are underwritten, having undei'-
taken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the
Christian faith, and honor of our king and country, a
voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts
of Virginia, do, by these presents, solemnly and
mutually, in the presence of God and one of another,
covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil
body politic, for our better ordering and preservation,
and furtherance of the ends aforesaid." During the
voyage of the ship " Arbella," which brought over the
Puritans, Gov. Winthrop wrote a treatise, in which he
stated that the work they had in hand was, " by a mutual
consent, through a special, over-ruling Providence, and
a more than an ordinary approbation of the churches
of Christ, to seek out a place of cohabitation and con-
sortship under a due form of government, both civil
24
and ecclesiastical." Both colonies attempted to carry
tliis theory of government into practice, the Puritans
making- the right of franchise dependent upon church-
membership. It was by them " ordered and agreed,
that, for the time to come, no man shall be admitted to
the freedom of this body politic but such as are members
of some of the churches within the limits of the same."
And in order that this should not be evaded by the or-
ganization of churches which were churches only in
name, it was ordered by the General Court that it " doth
not, nor will hereafter, approve of any such companies
of men as shall henceforth join in any pretended way of
church-fellowship, without they shall first acquaint the
magistrates and the ciders of the greater part of the
churches in this jurisdiction with their intentions, and
have their approbation therein. And further, it is ordered,
that no person being a member of any church which shall
hereafter be gathered without the approbation of the
magistrates and the greater part of the said churches,
shall be admitted to the freedom of this Common-
wealth." As Palfrey says : " They established a kind
of aristocracy hitherto unknown. Not birth, nor
wealth, nor learning, nor skill in war, was to confer
political power ; but personal character, — goodness of
the highest type, — goodness of that purity and force
which only the faith of Jesus Christ is competent to
create." I do not propose to discuss the question
whether such theories of government as these, or such
legislation, were or were not wise. But I bring these
facts forward to show the spirit with which our fore-
fathers came to this country, and also the spirit with
which they worked in building up a nation. They
25
believed that they were as truly called to go out from
England to a land that God would show them, as did
Abraham that he was called to go out from his country.
They as firmly believed that they were building up a
nation in this country, whose God was the Lord, as
did the descendants of Abraham in the land of Palestine.
If we sometimes think that this feeling was too strong
for the good of the aborigines, we must remember also,
that without some such feeling as this they would not
have braved all the danger and sufferings that they did
in order to build up a nation. And the same belief,
that in some way God was the Lord and the Protector
of this people, was not extinguished with the generation
which came to these shores. Their children and their
children's children received such a belief for their in-
heritance. Eeligion was the spirit and the life of these
colonies, flowing into the trunk and branches. Not
only did the nation have its root in religion, and its
trunk supported by it, but every branch which pushed
out into the wilderness bore on it the bud which was
to unfold into a church. Thus it was in the settlement
of Lexington, then called Cambridge Farms. Houses
were built, scattered here and there, the inhabitants
going to the settlement at Cambridge to worship. But
as soon as the number of families was large enough to
make a church of themselves, there was a petition to
be considered as a distinct parish. It was the church
idea, the need of worship, which first suggested the
thought of separation from the parent town of Cam-
bridge. And when, in the middle of the eighteenth
century, the controversy with Great Britain arose, and
the dark war-cloud loomed up above the eastern horizon,
26
the people of these colonies, — of the New England
colonies especially, — believed that the controversy was
one in which the Supreme Ruler had an interest ; and if
it were to be decided by an appeal to arms, they might
place their reliance upon that God who was the Lord of
the nation. For this reason, the questions at issue
were discussed over and over again in the pulpits of the
land. If there was to be a war, it would be a religious
war, as truly as were the wars of Joshua. And thus
church and state were united. Election sermons were
printed, and circulated as political tracts. The fire of
patriotism which burned so brightly in the hearts of the
people was kindled by a coal from the altar of God.
Headley says : " The teachings of the pulpit of Lexing-
ton caused the first blow to be struck for American In-
dependence." But the blows which were struck for
American Independence would have been far fewer and
far feebler, had it not been for patriotic teachers in most
of the pulpits of these colonies.
In December, 1774, when the Boston Port Bill was in
operation, and when the prospect for the approaching
winter was very dark, the Provincial Congress appealed
to the ministers to aid in the common cause. " In a
day like this," they said, " when all the friends of civil
and religious liberty ax-e exerting themselves to deliver
this country from its present calamities, we cannot but
place great hope in an order of men who have ever
distinguished themselves in their country's cause ; and
do thereby recommend to the ministers of the gospel
in the several towns and other places in this colony,
that they assist us in avoiding that dreadful slavery
with which we are now threatened, by advising the
21
people of their several congregations, as they wish
their prosperity'', to abide by, and strictly adhere to,
the resolutions of the Continental Congress." And to
the inhabitants of this colony, the Provincial Con-
gress could say : " Let nothing unbecoming our charac-
ter as Americans, as citizens and Christians, be justly
chargeable to us. Whoever considers the number of
brave men inhabiting North America, will know that a
general attention to military discipline must so establish
their rights and liberties, as under God to render it
impossible to destroy them." Thus did the Provincial
Congress, the very first political body created solely
by the inhabitants of this colony, acknowledge their
obligations as Christians, and their dependence upon
God.
If we look at the election sermons delivered a few years
before the commencement of hostilities, we shall find the
doctrine of resistance to tyranny very plainly stated.
In 1111, Rev. John Tucker, of Newbury, preached the
election sermon before Gov. Hutchinson, the Council
and House of Representatives, in which he said :
" Proper submission in a free state is a medium between
slavish subjection to arbitrary claims of Rulers, on one
hand, and a Itiwless license on the other. It is obedience
in subjects to all orders of government which are con-
sistent with their constitutional rights and privileges.
So much submission is due, and to be readily yielded
by every subject ; and beyond this, it cannot be justly
demanded, because Rulers and people are equally
bound by the fundamental laws of the constitution."
Here was the doctrine on which the colonists based their
right of resistance, promulgated from the pulpit four
28
years before the Eevolution. In UTS, Rev. Charles
Turner, in the Election Sermon, said : " When the civil
rights of a country receive a shock, it may justly ren-
der the ministers of God deeply thoughtful for the safety
of sacred privileges — for religious liberty is so blended
with civil, tliat if one falls it is not to be expected that
the other will continue." In 1174, when matters
seemed to be drawing to a crisis, the preacher of the
Election sermon. Rev. Gad Hitchcock, of Pembroke,
spoke in still bolder words from the text, " When the
righteous are in authority the people rejoice, but when
the wicked bear rule the people mourn." " Our danger
is not visionary, but real ; our contention is not about
trifles, but about liberty and property, and not ours
only, but those of posterity to the latest generation. If
I am mistaken in supposing plans are formed and exe-
cuting, subversive of our natural and chartered rights
and privileges, and incompatible with every idea of
liberty, all America is mistaken with me. Our con-
tinued complaints, our repeated humble, but fruitless,
unregarded petitions and remonstrances, and if I may
be allowed the sacred allusion, our groanings that can-
not be uttered, are at once indications of our sufferings,
and the feeling sense we have of them. L'et the Gov-
ernor in his chair of state hear it : we not only mourn,
but with groanings that cannot be uttered, and all
because the wicked rule. The castle cannot shelter liim
from that scorching thunderbolt. Families are divided,
brother is arrayed against brother, friend against friend.
Society is cut from its moorings, and hate and conster-
nation reign on every side, and all because the ivicked
bear rule. King George may say the evils that produce
29
this state of things are imaginary; but I tell you, and I
tell the tyrant to his face, it is because the wicked hear
rule.'' When such sermons as these were preached, it
is not surprising that the Governor, in 1774, refused to
appoint a fast : " For the request," he said, " was only
to give an opportunity for sedition to flow from the
pulpit." On account of the sulferings of the Boston
people in the year 1774, occasioned by the enforcement
of the Port Bill, the ministers of Connecticut wrote to
the ministers of Boston: "The taking away of civil
liberty will involve the ruin of religious liberty also.
Bear your heavy load with Christian fortitude and reso-
lution." From the Boston ministers Avent back the an-
swer : " While we complain to Heaven and earth of the
cruel oppression we are under, we ascribe righteous-
ness to God. The surprising union of the colonies affords
encouragement. It is an inexhaustible source of com-
fort that the Lord omnipotent reigneth." Thus there
was in the minds of the people, underneath the thought
of independence, the thought that the spirit of the
church and the state are one ; that religious liberty and
civil liberty must stand or fall together. If the inhabit-
ants of these colonies believed they had the right to
stand up for their liberties, it was because they regarded
those liberties as the gift of God, of which not even
kings or any earthly authorities had the right to de-
prive them.
It is impossible for the inhabitants of this town to
think of the union of religion and government, without
having their thoughts turn to the man who, one hundred
years ago, was pastor of this church and society, the
Rev. Jonas Clark. There is no other name connected
30
with Lexington that better deserves honorable mention,
at this centennial anniversary, than his. And here
to-day, among the members of this religious society, of
which he was once the pastor, all our thoughts of him
must be tinged with a peculiar feeling of reverence.
There is only one thing that we can see which remains
to-day to recall his name and memory. The old
chui'ch in which he preached is gone. Of those who
formed his congregation, none remain. Only this Bible
remains. It was presented to this society by Gov.
John Hancock, in the year 1T93, and during the last
twelve years of the life of Mr. Clark, it was used by
him in the religious services of the society. His hands
have turned over its leaves. His voice has been heard
speaking words of sacred wisdom as his eyes rested
upon its pages. It is a precious relic.
But, if there were nothing outward remaining to
remind us of him, still his name could not possibly be
forgotten on such an occasion as this, nor the spirit of
the man be remembered without the utmost reverence.
Mr. Clark was pastor of this society during a period of
fifty years and ten days, having been ordained Novem-
ber 5, 1155, and having died November 15, 1805.
Had nothing unusual occurred in this colony during
those fifty years, Mr. Clark Avould have been remem-
bered as an earnest preacher, a devoted pastor, and a
man of " strong sense and sound judgment." "His
public discourses," it is said, " consisted not of learned
discussions on speculative or metaphysical subjects,
nor yet of dry lectures on heathen morality, but of the
most interesting truths of the gospel, well arranged for
the edification of his hearers. And they were delivered
31
not in a formal, heartless manner, but with uncommon
energy and zeal." But, living as he did during a pecu-
liar period, requiring peculiar talents, he showed himself
equal to the emergency. Church and state were united
in him. He was not only a minister but a statesman.
Probably no one understood the questions at issue be-
tween the colonies and the mother country better than
he. And his people received the benefit of his states-
manship, not only in their town meetings, but from the
pulpit. " Enough of his discourses," says a descend-
ant of his, *'have been preserved to make it plain
what, on a thousand occasions long before even the
passage of the Stamp Act, would have been the strain
of his thought and of his speech ; so that, when the
struggle actually commenced, the people were ready
for it, thoroughly acquainted with the reasons on which
the duty of resistance was founded, and prepared to
discharge the duty at every hazard. No single individ-
ual probably did so much to educate the people up to
that point of intelligence, firmness and courage, as their
honored and beloved pastor." In one of his sei'mons,
Mr. Clark thus illustrated the necessity of religion to
government: "In civilized nations, and where civil
government hath been established, many cities and
places of importance may be found without walls, with-
out guards, and even without weapons or any prepara-
tions for common defence. But it is not easy to find
any without a temple, an altar, a grove, or some other
place appointed and appropriated to the purpose of
religion, the acknowledgment of Heaven, and the wor-
ship of the Deity, in some shape or other." It is well
known that Mr. Clark di-ew up most of the important
32
political papers and resolutions, in regard to the great
question at issue, which were adopted by the town of
Lexington. There can be no doubt that the men
who assembled on Lexington Green, on the morning of
April 19th, 1715, were there to make a practical appli-
cation of the doctrine which they had heard enforced
in the church. Robert Munroe, Jonas Parker, Samuel
Hadley, Jonathan Harrington, Isaac Muzzy, Caleb
Harrington, and John Brown, who were slain on that
morning, doubtless felt that, if their lives were sacrificed,
they would be offered up, not only on the altar of their
country, but on the altar of their God. Of their coun-
try and their God they could truly say, "To die for her
is serving Thee." And this feeling was not confined to
this town. Everywhere men looked upon the war as a
holy war. They believed that when they took their
muskets and hastened to the conflict, they were en-
gaged in a religious act, just as truly as when they met
to worship God. They went into the war, feeling, as
David had said : "The Lord is on my side; I will not
fear ; what can man do unto me?" " Call me an enthu-
siast," said Samuel Adams; "this union among the
colonies, and warmth of affection, can be attributed to
nothing less than the agency of the Supreme Being. If
we believe that he superintends and directs the affairs
of empires, we have reason to expect the restoration
and establishment of the public liberties."
Headley says: " In every quiet little valley and se-
questered nook in New England, the pastor had taught
the doctrines of freedom, and preached the duty of
resistance to oppression. The farmers and mechanics
listened with reverence and confidence to these teach-
33
ings, and showed their faith by their works when the
hour of trial came. At the battle-cry that rolled over
the land from Lexington and Concord, they shouldered
their muskets, and went forth with the blessing of their
pastor on their heads, and his fervent prayers for their
success following their footsteps. They had been taught
from the pulpit that it was the cause of God, and they
took it up in the full belief that they had his blessing and
his promise. If the scenes that transpired in the count-
less villages and hamlets of New England, when the news
of the first blood shed by British troops swept over the
colonies, and the first uprising of the people took place,
could be described just as they occurred, in all the
beauty, pathos, patriotism and religion that character-
ized them, the Revolutionary struggle would possess an
interest that all its thrilling battles and perilous marches,
deeply as they enlist our sympathies, can never im-
part." The historian describes one such scene, in
Stockbridge, at which place the news of the Lexington
and Concord fight arrived on Sunday forenoon. Signal
shots were immediately fired, and men who were pre-
paring to go to the house of worship took down their
firelocks, bid their families farewell, and hastened to the
yard of the deacon, the appointed place of meeting.
The old pastor came and stood among them, reading
from his Bible, ofiering a prayer, imparting his blessing,
and then " twenty men, with knapsacks on their backs,
and muskets on their shoulders, started on foot for Bos-
ton, nearly two hundred miles distant."
So it was throughout a great part of the colonies.
Whether men waited or not for religious services, they
all went forth with the same spirit, — that their cause was
34
just because it was the cause of God. Though in the
midst of oppression and distress, they believed that a
blessing was awaiting the nation because the God of
the nation was the Lord.
A part of the text of the sermon preached in Lex-
ington in 1779, on the anniversary of the battle, was
" Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." At the centennial
anniversary of the incorporation of the town. Rev. Mr.
Williams, then pastor of this society, preached a dis-
course, with the same text : " Hitherto hath the Lord
helped us." And now that we have come to the cen-
tennial anniversary of the battle of Lexington, can we
say the same thing of our nation: "Hitherto hath the
Lord helped us?" Looking around us now, and looking
as far into the future as possible, can we say, Blessed
is this nation, whose God is the Lord ? Have we any
of that old faith of our forefathers left ? Have we any
faith that God cares for this nation, in the least ?
Whether we have any of that faith or not, I believe we
ought to have. It may be necessary to modify it some-
what; but there is a faith in national dependence upon
God which no nation should be without. I am aware
that men with little or no religious spirit may say that
such a faith was an illusion with our forefathers ; and
they may add that it was also an illusion with the Jews,
who, although firmly believing that the God of their
nation was the Lord, and that their nation was to be
blessed on that account, yet saw their nation, as a
nation, utterly destroyed. If those words are true,
" Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord," why
was it, they will ask, that there was such a sad end to
the Jewish nation, which, before all other nations,
35
claimed to recognize the Lord as its God ? The answer
to that question will lead us to the true faith of
national dependence upon God.
The Jews were fond of calling themselves the chosen
people of God ; but they forgot in the later period of
their history that there could be a nation chosen by
God in any abiti'ary manner. They forgot that there
could be any chosen people of God, except as they
obeyed the commandments of God ; they forgot the
words which Moses had spoken to the nation : " The
Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people
unto himself. Thou shalt, therefore, keep the com-
mandments and the statutes, and the judgments which
I command thee this day. Wherefore it shall come to
pass if ye keep and do them, that the Lord thy god
will love thee and bless thee, and thou shalt be blessed
above all people. But it shall be, if thou do at all
forget the Lord thy God and walk after other Gods,
and serve them and worship them, I testify against
you this day, that ye shall surel}'- perish." That is the
faith of national dependence upon God that Moses
taught.
It was the same theory of national dependence upon
God that the prophet Jeremiah taught the stubborn Jews
in the parable of "The Potter." "I went down to the
potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the
wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred
in the hands of the potter ; so he made it again another
vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make it. Then
the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 0 house of
Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter ? saith the
Lord. Behold as the clay is in the potter's hand, so
36
are ye in mine hands, 0 house of Israel," That does
not mean that God governs the nations arbitrarily, but
rather in accordance with certain laws. As F. W.
Maurice said : " When Jeremiah was sent to study the
potter's work, he was sent to ascertain, not what the
potter might do if he liked, but what he liked. He
desired to make a vessel of a certain form. That was
the end for which he labored. If there is any force or
worth in the analogy at all, it must mean that there is a
form according to which God is seeking to mould men
and nations. It must imply that he is not doing any
single act arbitrarily, or without reference to a purpose ;
it must imply that he is patiently, continually working
for the accomplishment of this purpose ; and ifthey do not
submit to this process, if they persist in not taking the
mould which he would give them, then the clay is
broken that it may be re-formed, that the original intent
of the owner may still be carried out."
John the Baptist taught the same doctrine to the
Pharisees and Sadducees : "Think not to say within
yourselves, we have Abraham to our father ; for I say
unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up
children unto Abraliam." And to the hardened Jews
who resisted the truth, but said, " Abraham is our
fatlier," the Saviour taught the same doctrine : " If ye
were Abraham's children ye would do the works of
Abraham." But the teachings of patriarch, prophet,
and of the Saviour could avail nothing. The recogni-
nition of the Lord as their God was only in name with
the Jews. There was no reality in it.. And the sins
of that people led, by direct laws, established by God,
to destruction.
37
In the hands of God are all the nations of the earth.
There may be a chosen nation now, just as truly as
there ever was. But the chosen nation is the nation
which keeps the divine laws, and obeys the divine com-
mands. " Blessed is the nation whose God is the
Lord ; '^ not in name, merely, but in truth. And God
blesses nations for obedience, not arbitrarily, as you
reward a boy for doing an errand. But the laws of God
are such that national strength is the result of obedi-
ence, and national weakness is the result of disobedience.
It is possible to trace the connection between the im-
morality, the disobedience of the commands of God of
some of the ancient nations, and the weakness which
resulted in their downfall. It is sometimes said of
nations that they have their period of rising, and their
period of degeneration and overthrow, as if it were an
invariable rule. But if it seem so, it is because there
never has been a nation capable of resisting the tempta-
tions of prosperity. "Righteousness," it is said,
"exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."
So long as a nation keeps in the path of righteousness,
so long it will be blessed by God, so long will it have
strength to remain a nation. I do not mean that
righteousness alone will maintain a place for any people
among the nations of the earth. There are other requi-
sites for national existence than righteousness, or
obedience of divine laws. But when all these requisites
exist in a nation, righteousness will tend to strengthen
and perpetuate it, and unrighteousness will tend to
weaken and overthrow it.
If we ask ourselves, what will be the future of our coun-
try, let us remember that we are not a chosen people
or a favored nation now, because we had the Pilgrims
and the Puritans for our fathers. We can see how
their virtues made them strong, and how the virtues
of the colonists, a century ago, also made them strong.
But unless wo also have their virtues, we can not rely
upon our ancestors for our national strength to-day. If
there is anything which threatens the overthrow of this
nation to-day, if there is anything at which thoughtful
men may feel alarmed, it is the neglect of some of those
stern virtues of our fathers which we affect to despise.
I do not wish to see church and state united as it was
with the Puritans. Their religious test was a failure,
so far as keeping bad men out of office was concerned.
But never was there a time when we could see plainer
than now, that our continued prosperity depends on
placing men in office possessing the principles which
Christianity inculcates. When a foreigner can write
about us as Strauss, the German, has written, it is time
for us to try and see ourselves as others see us. "The
air of the United States," he says, "is infected by a
corruption of its leading classes, only to be paralleled in
the most abandoned parts of Europe. The practice in
their presidential elections, the inevitable corruption
following in their wake, the necessity of rewarding the
accomplices by giving them places, and then of winking
at the delinquencies of their administration, the venality
and corruption which are thus engendered in the ruling
circles, — all these deep-lying evils of the much-vaunted
republic have been brought into such glaring promi-
nence within the last few years, that the eagerness of
German orators, newspapers, writers, and poets, to go in
search of their political, and even moral ideals to the
39
other side of the Atlantic Ocean, has suffered consider-
able abatement." We may pretend to despise all such
foreign criticism as that, but we cannot deny that there
is a vein of truth in it. And we may be sure that when
we cease to be an ideal example for every individual in
all nations who is looking toward freedom, we have
not only ceased to perform one of our most important
missions, but we are losing that element of grandeur
and of strength which has hitherto given us an exalted
place among the nations of the earth.
But although there is evidently danger in this direc-
tion, I cannot despair of the final result. Although there
are thousands of politicians who think that trickery and
bribery, and corruption, so long as they aid their party,
are pei-fectly innocent, still there are others, who know
that these things are sapping the foundations of the
government. And there is no small amount of the spirit
of the Pilgrims and Puritans and colonists still remaining
among us, which holds that disobedience of the laws of
God will work injury to the nation. That spirit is patient
and long-suffering under distress and oppression ; but if
national evils continue to increase, that spirit will ere
long prompt men to join hands and drive corrupt politi-
cians from the goveri;ment, as it inspired men a century
ago to band together, and drive the British from
America. It looks now as if, before long, party plat-
forms will be plaiicd down, till nothing remains but
questions of truth, honesty and purity ; and when it
comes to that, there is no doubt where the religious
spirit of our forefathers will force the majority to stand.
It is true, perhaps, that there is less outward observance
of religion than there was with our forefathers ; but the
40
religious spirit still remains, and the blessings which it
prompted them to struggle for a century ago, it will
not now allow corrupt politicians to destroy.
The celebration of this series of centennial anniversa-
ries, which is about to begin, will but poorly honor the
men who shed their blood on yonder Green, and those
who followed them in their act of sacrifice, in all the
colonies, if it ends with the noise of cannons, the roll of
drums, and eloquent words. Unless it incites us to be
more watchful of the blessings for which they gave their
lives, more watchful against every foe, it seems as if
their sleeping dust must cry out shame ! We would
call ourselves unworthy descendants of tliem, if without
resistance we allowed a foreign enemy to deprive us of
the liberty which they obtained. Are we any less un-
worthy if we allow the dishonesty and corruption of
politicians to undermine the foundation of what the}'
established ? This celebration will be unworthy of this
people unless it leads us to honor the virtues of our
forefathers, and inspires us with more of that spirit of
dependence upon God, as a nation, which they pos-
sessed ; unless it leads us to make the Lord the God of
our nation, through obedience of his laws. It will not
be enough to place the name God in the constitution,
for that would be oidy like the Jews, careful fur the
name of God, but careless about his spirit in the heart.
The poet has said of the Ship of State, the Union :
" We know what anvils rang, what hammers beat,
In what a forge and what ri heat
"Were shaped the anchoi's of thy hope."
We have seen that those anchors of hope came from the
41
forge of the church, and the heat of religious enthusiasm ;
and the more we make our anchor of hope now that reli-
gion which consists in obedience of the laws of God, the
more certain shall we be that the next century of our
national existence will be brighter than the past.
42
A SERMON DELIVERED APRIL 25th, 1815.
EXODUS XII, 14.
" This Day shall be unto you rou a Memorial ; ye
SHALL keep it A FeAST I5Y AN ORDINANCE FOREVER." .
It has been a common custom among all nations to
perpetuate the remembrance of heroic men and heroic
deeds by some kind of memorial. The forms of heroic
men have been carved in marble, or cast in metal ; and the
accounts of heroic deeds have been inscribed on the
same enduring substances. The cities of Athens and
Rome were noted for the great number of such memori-
als which they contained. In the early history of the
Jews, we find accounts of this same custom, although
observed in a much ruder manner. Jacob, after he had
dreamed of the ladder with the angels ascending and
descending, " rose up early in the morning," it is said,
" and took the stone that he had put for his pillow, and
set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it."
When the children of Israel passed through the river
Jordan, Joshua commanded twelve men, one man out
of each of the twelve tribes, to take each a stone from
the bed of the river, and carry them to the land, and
place them together, " that this," he said, " may be a
sign among you, that when your children ask their
fathers in time to come, saying, what mean j'^e by these
stones, then ye shall answer them, ' That the waters of
Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of
43
the Lord, and those stones shall be for a memorial unto
the children of Israel for ever.' " In the same way the
service of the passover was to be annually a memorial
of the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt.
" This day/' said Moses, " shall be unto you for a me-
morial ; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for
ever. And when your children shall say unto you,
what mean you by this service ; ye shall say, ' It is the
sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over the
houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he
smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses.' "
No one can doubt that such memorials, whether ex-
pressed in metal or stone, or in the observance of a day,
serve a very important purpose in the life of a nation.
They keep alive the memory of those who labored and
suffered for the nation ; they keep fresh in the thoughts
the heroic deeds of the past, all of which tends to in-
crease the spirit of patriotism in the hearts of the
people. So long as the people of a nation cherish the
memory of its founders and sustainers, no danger can
threaten the existence of the nation, without arousing
multitudes for national defence. The Jews were care-
ful to observe the passover, the memorial of their
deliverance from Egypt ; and although they were finally
conquered, and destroyed as a nation, yet there is no
doubt that the custom which still remains wherever a
remnant of them can be found, of observing this annual
memorial feast, serves to keep them distinct from every
other nation, although they are scattered over every
part of the world.
Our annual celebration of the declaration of American
Independence has been of immense value to this nation.
u
We are apt to smile at the noisy demonstrations and
exultant orations of the Fourth of July ; but although
we may be a little critical of the manner in which the
day is observed, this nation can not well afford to dis-
pense with the celebration of that important event in our
history. As the Jewish children asked concerning the
observance of the passover, "What mean ye by this
service ? " so have the children in this country asked
the same concerning this annual celebration, and they
have learned its meaning ; and its noise and tumult have
made an impression on every boy's heart. That readi-
ness with which men in every part of the land, in 1861,
answered the call to take up arms in defence of our
national existence had its foundation in Fourth-of-July
celebrations. May the time never come when the day
will cease to be observed in some appropriate manner.
When the Fourth of July ceases to be an exceptional
day in our national calendar, we may begin to tremble
at the fate of our nation.
The events which occurred in this town, and of which
we have just celebrated the centennial anniversary,
were not unlike, in spirit at least, the event which
Moses commanded the Jews to observe by a memorial
day. With the Jews, it was their departure from the
territory of a nation who held them as slaves ; on the
nineteenth of April, 1775, began that series of events
which resulted in driving from this land those who
were endeavoring to make slaves of the colonists. And
if there were any good reason why that day should be
unto the Jews for a memorial, why it should be kept a
feast by an ordinance for ever, there is equally good
reason why the uineteentli of April should be unto our
45
nation for a memorial, and should be kept a feast by an
ordinance forever. If we. have had doubts of this here-
tofore, I think the celebration which has occm-red during
the past week has laid all such doubts at rest.
There may have been some persons who thought that
the significance of this celebration was greatly magni-
fied in the eyes of the citizens of Lexington. But
looking back upon it now, we know very well that our
ideas of its importance and significance did not exceed
similar ideas which were entertained in every part of
this country. Very few of us, I think, fully realized
what a great manifestation of interest in the day would
be exhibited. From every part of this country we
have had evidence that there was a deep interest in the
observance of the day, and that the day was observed
not only in this and our neighboring town, but in many
other towns of this Commonwealth, and in many States
of the Union. So large a concourse of people as
assembled here last Monday, hardl}' any one of the
most sanguine of our citizens expected to see. And
when we remember that half as many more tried in vain
to reach Lexington on that day, we must feel that such
a manifestation of interest in any patriotic occasion has
seldom been surpassed. The character and conduct of
the crowd was also equally remarkable. A very small
proportion of the number who participated in the cele-
bration, or who endeavored so to do, was composed of
the element termed rowdy. Very few indeed seemed
drawn hither merely to see or form a part of a crowd.
There were men of every profession, business, and
occupation, apparently drawn hither from real interest
in the event which was commemorated. Rev. Dr. Bel-
46
lows, who was unable to get any farthei* on his way to
Lexington than Boston, and who returned to New York,
as he says, " baflled and sorely disappointed in the object
of his patriotic journey," also says that he was "partly
repaid by the immense exhibition of interest and zeal
in the occasion which the crowd displayed." And I
think this must be especially gratifying to every one
who either saw or heard of it. Last Monday was the
beginning of a scries of centennial anniversaries which
are to be observed during the coming period of eight
years. An'd the great interest displayed in this first
anniversary of the series shows with what deep interest
and reverence the American people regard the struggle
which our forefathers endured, in order to establish this
nation upon the solid foundation of political and reli-
gious liberty. In February, 1775, both houses of the
English Parliament joined in an address to the king,
declaring that a rebellion existed in Massachusetts, and
pledging their lives and properties to its suppression.
During the discussion which took place upon that
address, John Wilkes said : " Who can tell whether, in
consequence of this day's violent and mad address, the
scabbard may not be thrown away by the Americans as
well as by us ; and, should success attend thera, whether,
in a few years, the Americans may not celebrate tlie
glorious era of the revolution of 1775, as we do that of
1688 ? " Ilis words proved to be the words of a true
propli(;t; and now, after a century has passed awa}^, the
American people have entered upon the celebration of
that "glorious era" with renewed interest and zeal,
giving evidence not only of the lienor which is felt to
be due to the men of that era, but also of the value
47
which is attached to what, by their labors, by their
struggles, and by their sacrifices, they obtained.
But besides this manifestation of patriotism which
the celebration of the anniversary of the battle of Lex-
ington and Concord has produced, and that which will
be shown on the anniversaries which are to follow,
there is another thing which it seems to me every per-
son must feel will result therefrom ; and that is, the
strengthening of that bond of political union among the
different States which has, of late years, suffered so
severe a strain. Very few, after our late domestic
struggle, could say of it what Longfellow said before :
" 'Tis but the flapping of the sail,
And not a rent made by the gale ! "
It was a rent, and a very serious one ; and since the
rent has been repaired, it has been the earnest wish of
every lover of his country to see all traces of it removed,
and the old feeling of union replaced, as strong and firm
as ever. Can any one doubt that the celebration of
these centennial anniversaries, which have been so
auspiciously begun, and in which men from every State
in the Union will join, will tend to strengthen that old
feeling of unity which has been so seriously disturbed ?
Will it be possible for men from every part of this
country to meet together in order to honor the men who
one hundred years ago laid the foundation of this
Union, without being more deeply impressed with the
value of what our "forefathers established ? As pilgrims
from the South and pilgrims from the North meet
together in places made sacred by the deliberations or
sacrifices of our forefathers, the clasping of their hands
48
must bo a true symbol of the renewed feeling of union
with which they will return to their homes.
A poet has told the story of a husband and wife, after
long years of wilful separation, meeting at the grave of
their child, where memories of former days of love and
happiness came thronging upon them, and there they
pledged anew their mutual faith and trust in each other.
When North and South meet at such places as Lexing-
ton, Concord, Bunker Hill, Philadelphia, Trenton,
Princetown, Eutaw, and Yorktown, to honor the dead,
in whom both North and South have a mutual interest,
the thronging memories connected with these places
must revive, to a great degree, the old feeling of union,
and make them again regard themselves as "one and
inseparable." Therefore, when I think of the proceed-
ings of last Monday, and ask myself what was the
grandest part of those exercises, I pass by that grand
procession. 1 say, not those eloquent introductory
words of the president of the day ; not that thrilling
scene of the unveiling of the statues of the patriots,
Adams and Hancock ; not that eloquent, beautiful and
masterly oration, but the last part of the speech of the
Governor of South Carolina. If the celebration had
accomplished nothing more than the bringing of the
Governor of South Carolina to give utterance to those
words on the soil of Lexington, it would have been a
grand success. It was a part of the day's exercises
which I was unfortunate enough not to hear, and it has
been difficult for me to road it since without feeling
tears of joy starting in my eyes. The words of which I
speak are these :
" I know that I am commissioned here to-day to say
49
for South Carolina that she joins with equal gratitude
and reverence with all her sisters of the early days in
honoring the nineteenth of April, 1775 ; that she claims
her share in the glory of the struggle begun at Lexing-
ton ; that as of old she bade Massachusetts cheer in the
struggle, so now she unites with her in these patriotic
services.
" It is not for me, it is not for any one, on this occa-
sion, to speak of later events in which these two ancient
allies stood face to face as enemies. Who that has an
American heart does not rejoice that, back of all the
recent bitter struggle, there lies the gracious heritage
of those common labors and dangers and sacrifices in
founding this common government ? Who that looks
with a just eye even on that recent struggle does not
now see, on either side, the same high elements of
character, the courage, the devotion to duty, the moral
lineaments of the Adamses and Hancocks, the Gadsdens
and Rutledges of a hundred years ago ? Who that has
faith in the destinies of America does not see in this
early friendship, — aye, and even in this later conflict,
the potency and promise of that coming Union under
whose protection liberty shall forever walk hand in hand
with justice, wherein the North and the South, reunited
in spirit and aims, shall again respond to every call of
patriotic duty in the old tones of Samuel Adams and
Christopher Gadsden, of James Otis and John Rutledge ?
"That spirit still lives, fellow-citizens, in South
Carolina. If in later days she has erred, forgive her ;
for even then she dared and sufi'ered with a courage and
patience not unworthy in its strength of the days when
Gadsden and Rutledge illustrated her civic wisdom, and
50
Sumter and Marion her martial prowess. ' Magnanim-
ity/ says Mr. Burke, 'is not seldom the truest wisdom;
and a great empire and little minds go ill together.'
"Fellow-citizens, I offer you to-day the fraternal,
patriotic greetings of South Carolina — of aZHier people.
She marches again to-day to the music of that Union
which a hundred years ago her wisdom helped to de-
vise and her blood to cement. There, in that hallowed
Union, endeared and sanctified by so many blessed
memories, and radiant with so many proud hopes and
promises, there, there 'she must live or bear no life.'
Oh, welcome her anew to day to the old fellowsliip !
The monuments of marble and brass which we raise
here to-day will crumble. Let us, therefore, build in
the hearts of all the people that imperishable monument,
'an indestructible Union of indestructible States.'"
Let such words find an echo at every centennial cele-
bration which is to follow during the next eight j'cars,
and tliese celebrations will cfiect almost as much of
good as did the war which they are intended to com-
memorate. Let the spirit of those words prevail at
these centennials, and it seems impossible that it should
not; and then, when in 1883 we celebrate the centen-
nial anniversary of the signing of a treaty of peace
between Great Britian and the Uftited States, we shall
also celebrate the re-union, both in word and spirit, of
the nation. Then will every State again join in the
words of the poet :
"Tliou, too, .sail on, Oh Ship of State!
Sail on, Oh Union, strono; and gi'eat!
Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea!
Our hearts, our hopes, arc all witli thee.
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,
Our faith triumphant o'er our fears,
Arc all with thee, — are all with thee!"
51
I have mentioned these two things first, — this manifes-
tation of the patriotic spirit, and the probable strength-
ening of the feeling of union, as results of this and the
following centennial celebrations, — because they are of
the greatest importance, being national in their charac-
ter. But there is something which the recent surprising
manifestation of interest in our centennial anniversary
should teach us as citizens of this town. It is this : that
the citizens of this historic town have a duty to perform
on account of the interest which centres here. The
whole country, as we have seen, feels an interest in the
associations and memories which cluster around this
place. Those who live in the town are the guardians
of that interest. The man who stays in this town, and
takes no interest in the associations and memories of the
place, is not worthy to be called a citizen of Lexington.
He is no citizen of the town. As guardians of the
national interest in Lexington, it is our duty to preserve
and increase that interest, not for the honor of the
town, but for the benefit of the nation. The deeper
and wider the interest in the associations and memories
of this place, the deeper and wider is the spirit of pa-
triotism. The way to perform the duty which we owe
to the country, as citizens of Lexington, is not to heed
the advice which some editor, during the past week,
has been obliging enough to give to both Lexington
and Concord; that is, " turn over and take another nap
of a hundred years." We ought to do just the opposite
to that; we ought to keep awake to the national inter-
est in, and historic character of, the town. One way to
do this, is never to let the nineteenth of April pass
without some observance of the day. We who have
52
witnessed this celebration will never witness another
like it. But the exceptional character of this celebra-
tion should not prevent our taking- some notice of the
day every year. Let there be, at least, the national
banner displayed on every house, and such other simple
observance as will be inexpensive, and at the same time
aflfording pleasure. Such a yearly celebration will not
only strengthen the spirit of patriotism in this town,
but all over the land. The news of such an observance
would go from one end of the land to the other, and
children would ask what is meant by it, and thus learn
the story, and take in the spirit of the day.
Another way to perform our duty is to preserve the
historic character of the town in its outward appear-
ance. The names of the streets should be historic.
They should be such that a stranger losing his way and
coming into this village would know from the names
on the sign-boards that he must be in Lexington, and
could not possibly be any where else. And we may
keep the historic character of the town, outwardly, by
preserving the old historic houses. If it be necessary,
let there be an association formed for this purpose.
People are always interested in old houses. Some one
told me, last Monday, that the most eloquent motto was
on the house just below here : " A witness of the battle
one hundred years ago." One of the great objects of
interest to visitors will always be the old houses which
stood here witnesses of the battle. Let us see that they
are preserved, so that they may speak to every stranger
visitor, eloquently, although silently, of the spirit of
the men of 1715.
Another way to do our duty in this historic town is
53
to preserve all the relics which illustrate in any way its
history. Such things are also eloquent and interesting
teachers of the past. One newspaper correspondent
who was in Lexington last Monday says, "I for one
enjoy seeing an old foot-stove, with which a venerable
dame, a hundred years ago, mitigated the severity of
a winter atmosphere in the meeting-house, or the blanket
in which Sam Adams was christened, more than the
military display, or the President and his Cabinet."
Such relics are of interest to most people, and they
are a real source of patriotic inspiration. Let that
part of the collection in our library which has been
given to the town, be increased till it shall come to be
such a collection as every lover of antiquities will never
visit Boston without coming to Lexington to see. In
such ways as these, and in others which may suggest
themselves, let us prove to the country that we are not
asleep, but awake to the historic and patriotic interest
in our town.
Of the seven men of Lexington who were killed on
the green, on the morning of the nineteenth of April,
1765, Bancroft says : " Their names are held in grate-
ful remembrance, and the expanding millions of their
countrymen renew and multiply their praise from gen-
eration, to generation,'' and his words during the past
week have been proved true. Let us remember that it
is the duty of the citizens of this town to do what they
can to keep alive the memories of those men, not for
the honor of Lexington, not solely for their honor, but
for the good of our nation, to establish which on the
firm foundation of liberty they sacrificed their lives.
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